Readers of the Brexit-backing Daily Mail newspaper have bemoaned rules brought in following the UK’s exit from the EU for scuppering their dream £3,000 holiday.
Allan Wilson and his wife Vivian were turned away at a P&O Cruises terminal because one of their passports was more than ten years old, despite its expiry date being May 2025.
The 10-year rule is a post-Brexit requirement for British passports that states that passports must be issued less than 10 years before entering the EU and be valid for at least three months after the intended departure date.
The Daily Mail was a staunch backer of removing freedom of movement rules which would have allowed the couple to travel on the cruise.
Mr Wilson said: “We were made to feel like criminals, I’ve never experienced the likes of it.
“We had no idea about the rule but I just don’t understand why P&O wouldn’t make that rule clear.
“Even the guy at the parking place we used said he’d never heard of anyone being turned away for that.”
Wilson added P&O Cruises make customers input their passport information when booking, and was confused as to why the company did not immediately flag up that his wife’s passport would be ineligible.
“If they’d have told us, we would’ve gone out and got another one, there was enough time to get a new one,” he said.
“It’s now taken them one month for their customer service team to give me an answer, and it’s not the answer we want, they won’t refund us.
“I would’ve thought P&O are surely a company who are supposed to care about their customers.”
P&O Cruises told Mr Wilson via email it is, “ultimately the responsibility of the guest to ensure that their travel documents are current”.